Man sentenced for driving 124 mph, killing woman in Warren County crash

A Cincinnati man was sentenced Wednesday after he killed a woman in a Warren County crash on Interstate 71 last year.

Samuel Sperry, 27, was sentenced to nine to 12 years in prison by a Warren County judge for the death of 76-year-old Shirley Coletta, according to a news release from Prosecutor David Fornshell.

Sperry was found guilty in September of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or a drug of abuse.

On April 2, 2023, Sperry was driving a sedan on northbound I-71 at a speed of 124 mph, the release said. He then struck the rear end of an SUV, occupied by Coletta and her daughter Patricia Jump.

Coletta died at the scene and Jump sustained serious physical harm.

Blood testing proved that Sperry was under the influence of multiple drugs and alcohol at the time, including being over six times the legal limit for marijuana, the news release said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Samuel Sperry sentenced after killing woman in Warren County crash